District One Class AAAA Playoffs: Halaby makes the big plays as Penncrest survives

By JAMES BOYLE

Friday, February 15, 2013

MIDDLETOWN -- With time running out in the fourth quarter and the ball in Spring-Ford's possession, Penncrest's Rahmi Halaby withstood a charge and converted on one of his free throws to give the Lions a dramatic 49-47 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA District One playoff Friday night.

"We did just enough to get by, just enough to get by," said Halaby. "We played hard the whole game, and we did what we needed to do."

Halaby, who spent as much time on the bench as he did on the court because of foul trouble, got the point at the line after taking the charge to give the Lions (16-7) a four-point lead and clinch a spot in the second round Tuesday at No. 2 Lower Merion, a 59-42 winner over Central League foe Conestoga.

"The more I'm on the court, the more I can do," Halaby added. "I think I've just got to play smart during the game."

Eddie Baxter, the Lions' leading scorer this season with 10.1 points per game coming into Friday's contest, scored a team-high 19 points, including Penncrest's first seven points of the game.

"We've been prodding and pleading with Eddie to shoot more," Penncrest head coach Mike Doyle said. "He went out and showed the level of play that he is, why he's a Division III basketball recruit, why he's an all-league player. He stepped up tonight."

Doyle also stated that a January virus that left Baxter 13 pounds lighter took a few steps from his game. But Baxter thinks that he is back to where he was before his illness.

"I was just resting up midway through the season, eating, trying to get my weight up," Baxter said. "I think I'm back to full strength now."

The Penncrest senior guard, who hit his first shot of the game from beyond the arc to open the scoring, went shot-for-shot in the opening minutes with Spring-Ford guard Matt O'Hara. The Rams guard scored the first eight points and finished his day with a game-high 20 points.

From the outset, it was clear that the Lions were not going to let Spring-Ford's 1,000-point scorer Zameer McDowell get any open looks down low. McDowell missed his first four foul shots and went scoreless in the first quarter.

Upper Darby 45, North Penn 44

Kuity Slanger had two clean looks at the basket. The first shot clanged off the rim. He immediately got chance No. 2, and didn't disappoint.

The senior point drilled the game-winning 3-pointer as the final seconds of the fourth quarter ticked off the clock. Slanger's heroics lifted No. 9 Upper Darby to the second round of districts.

"My teammates stuck in there the whole game and we never gave up," said Slanger, who scored finished with 10 points. "I had one more look and I knocked it down."

Penn Wood 69, Perkiomen Valley 66

Like he has all season, Tyree Bynum, the county's leading scorer, came through when it mattered most for the Patriots (16-7) when he drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to seal Penn Wood's win over the No. 21 Vikings.

Ridley 61, Cheltenham 58

The No. 13 Green Raiders (18-7) got a perfect 6-for-6 free-throw performance in overtime from Mike Smoluk and Zain Shaw scored all of his team-best 16 points in the second half and overtime to secure Ridley's double-overtime triumph.

Chester 86, West Chester Rustin 57

Rashan DeJarnette led a balanced attack with a career-high 18 points and reigning Daily Times Player of the Year Rondae Jefferson paired 22 points with 10 rebounds as Chester (20-3) cruised against the No. 32 Golden Knights.

Catholic League

Archbishop Carroll 69, Archbishop Ryan 53

All-Delco Yosef Yacob came through big-time for the Patriots (19-4) with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Derrick Jones led all scorers with 22 points to go with his six rebounds as Carroll advanced to the PCL semifinal next Wednesday at the Palestra at 8:30 vs. three-time defending Class AAA state champion Neumann-Goretti.

PAISAA Tournament

Germantown Academy 68, Haverford School 54

Sema'j Reed capped his high school career with a 21-point effort, Sean Lloyd added nine points and Shawn Alston and Eric Anderson tacked on seven points apiece, but the Fords (17-9) fell to the Patriots for the third time this year.